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December 06, 2007 (vol. 118, iss. 64)
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Image 1

Work it, hipster
A guide to looking good while staying in shape for the
horn-rimmed glasses set
PLUS: The School of Art and Design's all-student exhibition
THE B-SIDE
ONE v UN EI G T 4111 ENN 0ER 11F E A 1REED)M

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Thursday, December 6, 2007

michigandaily.com

ARTS FUNDING AND OBSCENITY
2 film
fest, state
settle
lawsuit
Legislature agrees to change
rules ACLU had challenged
By ANDREW SARGUS KLEIN
ManagingArts Editor
The Ann Arbor Film Festival settled its civil liber-
ties-infringement lawsuit against the state yesterday
when the state agreed to change the law that stripped
the event's funding.
The festival had not received money from the state
since Rep. Shelley Goodman Taub (R-Bloomfield
Hills) introduced a bill in March 2006 that withheld
money earmarked for the festival. Gov. Jennifer Gra-
nholm signed the bill two months later. Before the bill
passed, the state had provided aid tou thefestival for
10 years.
Funding for the arts - which includes the festival
- is handled by the Michigan Council for the Arts and
Cultural Affairs, a division of the state's Department
of History, Arts and Libraries. Before the lawsuit,
the council stipulated that money for arts enterprises
could be withheld for up to three years if one of its
three core parameters weren't met: no desecration of
the U.S. flag, no depiction of sex acts and no represen-
tation of religious symbols with fecal matter.
A strict interpretation of the "no sex acts" phrase
led to content in films from March's festival - spe-
cifically the films "Boobie Girl" and "Chests" - being
dubbed pornographic. "Boobie Girl" is a light-hearted,
animated short about insecurity and development in
young women, and "Chests" depicts men bumping
their torsos together.
Neither film depicts actual sexual acts.
See FILM FEST, Page 3A

Jonathan Kelly, aleasing agent for Oppenheimer Properties, shows an apartment on East Ann Street to LSA sophomores Kirsten McAlister and Katy Thostenson and Business
School sophomore Bruna Guimares yesterday. The lease-signing ordinance prohibits landlords from showing properties until 90 days into the current lease period, but the period
may be 70 days if the City Council approves the change.
Changes to lease law proposed

Council to discuss
prohibiting waivers to
waiting period
By DANIEL STRAUSS
Daily StaffReporter
Ann Arbor landlords, City Coun-
cil members, students and Univer-
sity administrators met yesterday in
the Michigan Union to discuss pro-
posed changes to the lease-signing
ordinance.

The proposed changes would pre-
vent landlords from bypassing the-
90-day waiting period for showing
properties by having tenants sign a
waiver.
Landlords have also begun offer-
ing incentives to tenants in the form
of cash or free home cleanings if ten-
ants signed a new lease for next year
or signed awaiver allowing landlords
to show their property before the 90-
day waiting period.
At the meeting, which was held in
Michigan Student Association Cham-
bers, City Council member Leigh
Greden (D-Ward 3) said it is already

illegal to offer incentives to tenants
before the 90-day period expires.
"I can tell you right now that we're
already having discussions with the
city attorney - we will prosecute,"
Greden said. "The law is clear."
The changes would also reduce
the waiting period to 70 days after
the current lease's start date.
Proposed modifications to the
ordinance will go before the City
Council next month.
Both landlords and student ten-
ants said they disliked waivers,
claiming they are advantageous for
the other group.

Fred Gruber, mandger of Gruber
Management, said students were
the ones asking about housing avail-
ability and pressuring landlords for
earlier vacancies. He said many land-
lords have resorted to illegal tactics
in order to compete in the local real-
estate market.
"The market has gone under-
ground and the good guys are left in
the cold," said Gruber, who claims
his company has obeyed the ordi-
nance. "If you obey the law you're
out of the market, because the mar-
ket is doingit."
See LEASING, Page 3A

SKATING FOR CHARITY

Web snafu could mean re-vote

Some Rackham students
could vote in multiple
school's MSA races
By DAVE MEKELBURG
Daily News Editor
Last week's student government elec-
tions might not be over quite yet.
A discrepancy in the voting website
allowed Rackham students - who can
only vote for candidates for Rackham's

Michigan Student Assembly representa-
tive seats - to vote in both the Rackham
election and for another school's seat if
they are affiliated with another school.
This means that Rackham students
who also work in LSA were able to vote
for LSA's MSA seats.
Election Director Ryan Bouchard said
Information Technology Central Ser-
vices has been contacted about filtering
Rackham students' ineligible votes from
the election results. He said he received
an e-mail from ITCS saying they should
be able to do so, but they won't be sure

until today.
If the results can't be filtered, the elec-
tions may have to be held again.
Bouchard said he wasn't sure if this
mistake has affected past elections, but
he hoped that it would be fixed for future
ones.
He also said there was certainly room
for the extra voters to affect the current
results - especially for the LSA MSA
seats.
If 16 voters had made LSA freshman
Jared Shaber their first choice and not
See MSA, Page 7A

WHERE THE MUSIC HAPPENS

'U' medal
maker cited on
labor abuses
Chinese firm accused of
running a sweatshop
By ANDY KROLL
Daily Staff Reporter
A Chinese factory that produces souvenir
medallions with the University's logo allegedly
violated Chinese labor laws with the treatment
of its workers, according to a report issued last
month by a national labor-monitoring group.
The report, released by the New York-based
National Labor Committee, implicates the Uni-
See LABOR, Page 7A

BENJIDELL/Daily
LSA senior Becca Seif skates at Yost Ice Arena last night. She was participating in an event put on by UM
Stars to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Members of the men's hockey team and the wom-
en's figure skating team made appearances. The synchronized skating team also performed.
STUDENT ACTIVISM
To fight genocide, some go without

By JULIE ROWE
Daily Staff Reporter
Alice Mishkin went without caffeine yes-
terday for the first time in a while. Instead of
buying her daily latte, she chose to give $3 to
help protect displaced Sudanese civilians in
Darfur.
Mishkin, an LSA senior, was participating
in Darfur Fast, a campaign organized by the
national anti-genocide student organization

STAND. The event encouraged students to
give up one luxury item from their daily lives
and donate that money to help victims of the
Darfur conflict.
Members of the University's chapter of
STAND - including Mishkin - sold $5 but-
tons advertising the event to students in
Angell Hall on Monday and Tuesday.
Emily Lardner, an LSA sophomore and
member of STAND, said the profits would be
See DARFUR, Page 7A